Automattic Applies for .wordpress, .woo, .tumblr and 13 More Domain Extensions

October 11, 2026 Qamar Abbas 9 min read

Automattic Applies for .wordpress, .woo, .tumblr and 13 More Domain Extensions

ICANN’s October 7 “Reveal Day” published all applications in the 2026 new top-level-domain round — and Automattic applied for 16 of them. The Automattic domain extensions bid includes .wordpress, .woo, .tumblr, and .matt (a nod to founder Matt Mullenweg’s first name), filed through its Knock Knock WHOIS There LLC arm. Eleven of the 16 strings are contested, setting up auctions and private deals that could take years to resolve. If granted, the Automattic domain extensions could reshape domain and branding strategy for WordPress-adjacent businesses — imagine launching on a yourname.wordpress domain.

What Happened: the Automattic Domain Extensions Bid

On October 7, 2026, ICANN — the nonprofit that oversees the Domain Name System — published the full list of applications from the 2026 new generic top-level-domain round, the first application round since 2012. The release revealed 1,615 applications, including 333 brand applications. Among them: the Automattic domain extensions filing, 16 strings submitted through Knock Knock WHOIS There LLC (KKWT), the registry arm that won .blog in the 2012 round and has since grown it to around 375,000 registrations.

The full Automattic domain extensions list is: craft, hire, human, jazz, make, matt, mesh, pod, pop, robot, soul, story, tumblr, vibe, woo, and wordpress. Some are dot-brand plays — .wordpress, .woo, .tumblr, and arguably .matt. Others are generic-word land grabs in crowded fields. Demand differs sharply from string to string: on five of the 16, Automattic faces no challengers at all — .jazz, .matt, .tumblr, .woo, and .wordpress each drew a single applicant. The other 11 are contested, with the number of competing applicants ranging from two up to nine. Interest peaks at .pop and .robot, where nine applicants each are competing; .pod has eight rivals in the set and .vibe has seven.

Several contests put Automattic up against hosting and website-builder rivals. In .human, the Automattic domain extensions bid goes head-to-head with Hostinger and Aruba among six total applicants; in .pop it crosses paths with Aruba; in .pod it runs into Squarespace. Those three companies collide elsewhere on the list too: Aruba, Hostinger, and Squarespace all want .lab, and both Hostinger and Aruba chase .gen. Contested strings are typically resolved by auction or private settlement — meaning the deepest pockets, not the best business case, often decide who gets the string.

The filing also includes a replacement-string mechanism. Automattic named 11 replacement strings it could switch to; four remain available (.freelance for .hire, .php for .vibe, .task for .soul, .rap for .jazz), while the other seven are deactivated because each matches a string another applicant filed — which the replacement rules do not allow. Applicants may switch strings until October 21, so the final Automattic domain extensions lineup could still shift.

Who Is Affected by the Automattic Domain Extensions Bid

The Automattic domain extensions bid affects several distinct groups. First, WordPress-adjacent businesses: agencies, theme and plugin shops, and hosts whose branding orbits the WordPress name. A .wordpress TLD — if approved and opened — would create an entirely new namespace for the ecosystem, with all the brand-protection questions that implies. Second, competitors in the contested strings: Hostinger, Aruba, and Squarespace are now in direct multi-string fights with Automattic, and the auction outcomes will shape who controls generic namespaces like .human, .pop, and .pod. Third, the WordPress community itself, because the .wordpress application has reopened the trademark-ownership question at the center of the ecosystem’s most heated disputes.

That trademark question deserves a full airing, because it is the most contested part of the Automattic domain extensions story. The .wordpress application describes WordPress as a brand without saying who owns it: “KKWT affirms that the applied-for string, WordPress, corresponds to a brand with multiple registered trademarks and thus is not a ‘Generic String’ as defined in Specification 11, Section 3(d),” it reads. ICANN will not approve closed TLDs for generic words, so the brand claim is doing legal work. The WordPress Foundation is not named in the application — yet the Foundation owns the WordPress trademarks, and under a 2010 agreement Automattic holds what the agreement calls an exclusive, perpetual commercial license to use and sub-license them. Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg is also a director of the Foundation.

Automattic’s Head of Domains, Paolo Belcastro, told The Repository that the Foundation’s ownership had not changed: “Automattic holds a limited commercial license from the Foundation, as it has since 2010, and its use of the WordPress name remains subject to that agreement and the Foundation’s oversight.” He said the application was filed through KKWT because it is Automattic’s registry operator and has run .blog since 2016, adding: “This is the first application round since 2012, and applying ensures the domain remains available for appropriate use rather than leaving the name unclaimed or contested at auction.” Policies governing .wordpress use would be published before any launch, and no one else applied for the string. Critics are unmoved: Kellie Peterson, who was Automattic’s Head of Domains from 2016 to 2023, published a Medium post titled “Automattic Wants .wordpress. It Doesn’t Own WordPress,” checking the application against ICANN’s Applicant Guidebook and urging developers, hosts, and contributors to comment once ICANN’s input period opens. The backdrop includes a judge’s recent ruling that Automattic and Mullenweg cannot bring trademark counterclaims in their own name in the WP Engine dispute — the ownership question is live on multiple fronts.

Why the Automattic Domain Extensions Bid Matters

The Automattic domain extensions bid matters first as strategy: this is a company buying lottery tickets on the future namespace of the web, and the Automattic domain extensions portfolio is the ticket stub. The .blog precedent is instructive — won in the 2012 round, now at ~375,000 registrations, it turned a $185,000 application fee (plus auction costs) into a durable registry business. Sixteen strings at 2026 prices is a serious capital commitment, and the contested ones will cost more at auction. Automattic is betting that controlling namespaces adjacent to its brands — and generic namespaces its competitors want — is worth it.

It matters second as ecosystem politics. A .wordpress TLD controlled by Automattic would give the company gatekeeper power over the ecosystem’s most valuable naming real estate, at a moment when the community is already litigating who owns the WordPress name. The application’s careful phrasing — brand claimed, owner unnamed, Foundation unmentioned — is unlikely to calm that debate. Whether .wordpress becomes a brand utility for the ecosystem or a moat for Automattic will be decided in ICANN’s evaluation and public-comment process, and the community now has a formal venue to weigh in.

It matters third as a signal about where the domain industry is going. With 1,615 applications in the round — 333 of them brand applications — the 2026 round is a land rush, and the contested generic strings (.pop, .robot, .human, .pod) show where the industry thinks consumer attention is heading: short, conversational, agent-friendly namespaces. For businesses, the Automattic domain extensions bid is a preview of the naming options — and naming fights — of the next decade.

What to Do Now After the Automattic Domain Extensions Announcement

The Automattic domain extensions are years from resolving, but there are sensible near-term moves for businesses watching the process.

Do not buy speculative domains or “pre-registration” offers. The Automattic domain extensions do not exist yet, and contested strings may take years (auctions, evaluations, contracting). Anyone selling you a .wordpress domain today is selling fiction.
Track the October 21 replacement-string deadline. Automattic can still switch strings until then (.freelance, .php, .task, .rap are the live options). The final lineup determines which namespaces actually go to auction.
If your brand orbits WordPress, plan for brand protection. A future .wordpress namespace will create defensive-registration questions for every theme shop, plugin business, and agency with “WP” or “WordPress” in its name. Start the conversation now, not at sunrise.
Watch the contested-string auctions. The .human, .pop, .pod, and .robot fights — Automattic versus Hostinger, Aruba, and Squarespace — will set price benchmarks for generic namespaces and reveal how aggressively each player is bidding.
Participate in ICANN’s public comment process. When the input period opens, developers, hosts, and contributors can comment on applications — including the .wordpress brand claim. Kellie Peterson’s call for community input is the mechanism working as designed.
Treat .blog as the case study. KKWT’s .blog registry (~375,000 registrations since 2016) is the best evidence for how Automattic runs a TLD: study its pricing, policies, and sunrise rules to calibrate expectations for the new strings.
Keep your current domain strategy boring and solid. New TLDs are a decade-long game; your business runs on the domain you have today. Domains are just the start — a great address deserves a great website. Whether you need a fresh build or ongoing care, Qamar Digital Ventures helps businesses grow online. Start at https://qamardigitalventuresllc.com/.

Automattic Domain Extensions: Frequently Asked Questions

What did Automattic apply for?
Sixteen new top-level domains through Knock Knock WHOIS There LLC: craft, hire, human, jazz, make, matt, mesh, pod, pop, robot, soul, story, tumblr, vibe, woo, and wordpress. Five are uncontested (.jazz, .matt, .tumblr, .woo, .wordpress); eleven face rival applicants.

Does Automattic own the WordPress trademark?
No. The WordPress Foundation owns the trademarks; Automattic holds a commercial license under a 2010 agreement, subject to the Foundation’s oversight. The .wordpress application’s brand claim without naming the owner is the most contested part of the filing.

When will these domains be available?
Not for years. Contested strings go through auctions or private settlements, then ICANN evaluation, contracting, and sunrise periods. Applicants can switch to replacement strings until October 21, 2026.

Who is competing with Automattic?
In the contested strings: Hostinger and Aruba (.human, .lab, .gen), Squarespace (.pod, .lab), Aruba (.pop), plus up to nine total applicants on .pop and .robot. The .blog precedent (~375,000 registrations) shows how Automattic plays the long game.

Automattic Domain Extensions: Conclusion

The Automattic domain extensions bid is a 16-string land grab filed at the first ICANN application round in fourteen years: .wordpress, .woo, .tumblr, and .matt sail through uncontested, while eleven generic strings — .pop, .robot, .human, .pod among them — head for multi-applicant fights against Hostinger, Aruba, and Squarespace, with auctions or private deals to decide the winners. The October 21 replacement-string deadline (.freelance, .php, .task, .rap in play) could still reshape the lineup. But the filing’s real flashpoint is .wordpress: an application that claims the string as a brand without naming the WordPress Foundation that owns the trademarks, filed by a company whose license to the name is already being litigated. Whether .wordpress becomes ecosystem infrastructure or corporate moat will be argued in ICANN’s public-comment process — and the community finally has a formal venue for that argument. For businesses, the actionable horizon is simple: nothing to buy today, brand-protection planning to start, and the .blog playbook to study. The namespaces of the next decade are being claimed now, and the Automattic domain extensions filing shows how seriously the biggest players take that claim; the wise move is to watch the auctions, join the comment process, and keep building on the domain you already own.

Domains are just the start — a great address deserves a great website. Whether you need a fresh build or ongoing care, Qamar Digital Ventures helps businesses grow online. Visit https://qamardigitalventuresllc.com/ to learn more, or contact us to discuss your project.

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